OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University softball team (8-6) travels to Carbondale, Ill. for a tournament at Southern Illinois this weekend. The RedHawks will play a total of five games against five different opponents in University of Illinois-Chicago, Butler, Green Bay, Iowa and the home team – Southern Illinois.
Last weekend, Miami went 2-2 at the Lipscomb Tournament, beating Appalachian State and Eastern Illinois while falling to Lipscomb and Appalachian State.
Courtney Vierstra was named MAC Co-Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday for her performance in Nashville last weekend. Vierstra struck out 33 batters during 18.1 innings. Her ERA for the weekend was 1.15 and she pitched two complete games, earning both of the RedHawks' wins last weekend.
OPPONENT PREVIEW
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: SIU holds an 11-5 record this season. Last weekend, Southern Illinois went 1-2 at the Coach B Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., losing to No. 17 Kentucky and Murray State while beating Saint Louis in convincing fashion. SIU also has a pair of wins over MAC-foe Ohio – both in close contests. Southern Illinois' pitching staff is led by Brianna Jones. She has an ERA of 1.30 and an 8-3 record in 14 appearances. In 59.1 innings pitched, Jones has struck out 49 batters.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHICAGO: UIC is 4-10 so far this season with four of those losses coming to ranked opponents. Last weekend, the Flames traveled to the San Diego Classic and split the weekend 2-2. UIC's wins were against Long Beach State (8-2) and San Jose State (12-3, 6 inn.). Lexi Watts and Skylee James lead the Flames' offense. Watts leads the team in batting average (.500), at-bats (42), runs (16), hits (21), walks (8), on-base percentage (.588). James leads in doubles (4), home runs (2), total bases (28) and slugging percentage (.683) and is second in RBI (13).
BUTLER: Butler has a 6-8 record this season. Last weekend, Butler traveled to Bowling Green, Ky. for the 2019 Hilltopper Classic and split its games 2-2. Butler beat Indiana State by a 6-4 margin and Cleveland State by a 9-6 margin but was shutout against Western Kentucky and Indiana State. Jenna Foreman leads Butlers offense in batting average (.426), at bats (47), runs (11), hits (20), total bases (20), on-base percentage (.438) and stolen bases (11).
GREEN BAY: Green Bay is 2-3 this season as the Cougar Classic in Edwardsville, Ill. was canceled last weekend. Green Bay played at the Total Control Sports Invitational Friday, Feb. 8 through Sunday, Feb. 10. Green Bay beat Purdue Fort Wayne by a 3-1 margin and Western Illinois by a 4-3 margin in nine innings. Green Bay lost to DePaul 4-5 in eight innings. Kayla Schwebke leads the Green Bay pitching staff with an ERA of 1.27 in 22 innings. Schwebke has three appearances, three starts and three complete games and has struck out 16 batters.
IOWA: The Hawkeyes hold an 11-8 record so far this season. Last weekend, Iowa traveled to Clearwater, Fla. for the USF Series. The Hawkeyes went 3-2, beating MAC-opponents Western Michigan and Ball State in addition to Binghamton. Allison Doocy has pitched the majority of the innings (81.0) so far this season. Doocy has a 9-3 record in 12 games started and nine complete games. She's also struck out 79 batters. Sarah Lehman has allowed no runs in her five innings in the circle.
